Argentina legend Diego Maradona is to take over as coach next season at Dubai's Al Wasl, the club vice-chairman Marwane Ben Bayatt announced on Monday.
"We have reached an agreement with Maradona and we will release details later," Ben Bayatt said. Maradona is to lead the team for the next two seasons, the Al Wasl Sports Club said in a statement on Monday.Details of Maradona’s contract will be revealed during a press conference that is expected to be held in the presence of the new coach during the first of week of June.The 50-year-old Maradona was manager of the Argentina national side at last year's World Cup in South Africa, but lost his job after they lost 4-0 to Germany in the quarter-finals.He paid a visit to the Al Wasl training facility and headquarters on Saturday when club officials said an announcement could be made shortly.Al Wasl are currently fourth in the domestic league and have been looking for a coach since firing Sergio Farias in March.Speculators were earlier saying if the deal was confirmed, don't be too surprised to see other stars like Pedro, Messi, Puyol, Iniesta, Pique or Xavi also coming down to visit the club in Dubai in the near future.Not because the high-profile Maradona would be the manager, but because of a certain Albert Benaiges who has taken over as the director of youth development at the club.FC Barcelona, due to play for the UEFA Champions League title against Manchester United on May 28, had seven of their members in the 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa. And Benaiges is the one who can rightly take the credit for making these players into stars for the modern generation in his capacity as technical director of FCB Escola - the Catalan club's in-house academy.
I am just the one who was entrusted with the task of guiding these players and I did my job. I was like the potter and they were the clay in my hands," Benaiges told Gulf News on the sidelines of the 1st Dubai International Football Academies Forum held earlier this week.
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